TRP: Hansel and Roddy (Matches)
Muse: at 7:50 PM Late day 166, after the party has returned from Skyport following live session. Where were they. Roddy banged through yet another cupboard, shoving things around heedlessly in his single-minded quest. Was it too much to ask for a set of matches around- aha! There they were. Wonderful little tools, they were. Perfect for setting things on fire. Roddy was turning to leave, matches in one hand, papers in another, already plotting where to go. The balcony, it was open, no risk of catching other things on fire accidentally- oh. There was Hansel. "Hey, uh, Hansel," Roddy said. He had- things in his hands. Things he didn't want Hansel to see. He hid them behind his back, eyeing the path to the door. The path blocked by a certain father-figure. That Roddy was currently not talking to. Roddy glanced around and started edging for the other door. "Sorry I'm uh. I'm busy. Got things to do. Talk to you later?" Izzy: at 8:37 PM Hansel stopped short, staring at Roddy. The kid had been acting ... odd, for a bit. He'd kind of assumed it was still something about him and Goro, combined with everyone being freaked out over that shit with Asenka, maybe still some nerves about fucking Gruumsh possibly coming back for Hansel and them having to fight him again. He'd just been hoping it would pass. People needed time to fuckin' process shit sometimes, and he was trying to back off of Roddy some, not treat him like a kid, so much. He figured that once Roddy was comfortable talking to him -- if he wanted to -- he just would. But now the kid was being fucking shady, and he'd left the kitchen a mess, and he had matches. Which he was trying to hide behind his back. As he said he was busy and had things to do. Hansel had a thought: Jonn would just fucking tell him I lit that on fire or I cut off someone's ear when Hansel asked him in a stern voice. Roddy ... Roddy might not. "Hey, kid," he said slowly, not sure how to approach this. "Uh. What're you planning to set on fire?" Muse: at 8:40 PM "Nothing!" Roddy said quickly. Too quickly. Kept edging for the door. "None of your business." Which was directly contradictory to what he'd just said- why did Hansel have to be so hard to lie to? "I'm an adult you know I can take care of myself," he said instead, defiant. He was gonna get in so much trouble. Izzy: at 8:45 PM "Right." Hansel shifted subtly to block the door a bit more. "I know." He wanted to say something like hey, lemme come burn stuff with you, how about that, but it'd come off all wheedling and coddling, he thought. And the kid didn't act like he wanted Hansel's company anyway, which was -- well, he wasn't dealing with that, right now. "S'just, y'know, fire can be pretty unpredictable. There's a lotta flammable shit in the castle, and it gets drafty, so sparks can carry ... Could go bad for anyone. Better to do it outside, all right?" It was still damp and snowy out there. Less chance for things to wrong. Plus -- if Roddy agreed, then he'd know what the kid wasn't fuckin' trying to burn some something in the actual fucking castle.(edited) Muse: at 8:50 PM Hansel was blocking him. Not good. Roddy backed up, had to keep his distance here. Tightened his grip on the papers- couldn't let him see. "I know! It's not the first time I've done this. Just- get off my back and let me go do it." This wasn't going well. Roddy was- too worked up. Wasn't mad at Hansel. Wasn't sure what he was mad at- but something was going on. Something was going on and Hansel was in the way. Izzy: at 8:54 PM 'It's not the first time I've done this'? Well that was fucking alarming. What the hell else had Roddy set fire to? Mishka charred things by accident, every now and then, when he got too excited -- Hansel tried to remember if he might've seen scorch marks somewhere and just glazed over them. He kept his voice low, and steady. "Okay. I'll go with you." Muse: at 8:57 PM "No!" This was supposed to be private. Not- some sort of celebration. "It'll be fine, I can do it by myself. I want to do this by myself." Izzy: at 8:58 PM Hansel chewed on that for a second. Yeah. No. That wasn't gonna work for him. "No." Muse: at 9:06 PM Roddy felt his breath hitch in his throat. Well. This wasn't going well. Could try making a run for it- but Hansel was big enough to possibly hold Roddy back if he caught him. Could try magic- that suggestion spell. Too worked up to be able to hold it. Anything that required being calm and rational- yeah nope, that was out the window. "Well I'm not letting you come with me!" Roddy yelled back. Had to get him away. Somehow. "Why don't you go check on your boyfriend, maybe something's gone wrong with him!" Izzy: at 9:11 PM Hansel's jaw tightened. Right. There it was. That again. For fucksake -- Luci seemed to get along with Goro, and apparently even Jonn liked him well enough, fuckin' inexplicably. He didn't fucking know what to do to get Roddy to be okay with this shit. He wasn't like this about Mishka. Shit, Hansel was pretty sure he even kind of liked Mishka. "All right, fuckin' listen to me, kid -- you're gonna have to get the fuck over whatever your goddamn problem is with Goro." He still did his best to keep his voice level, but it raised a little bit without him meaning for it to. "And I'm just trying to make goddamn sure you don't hurt yourself or set someone else on fire, here. I'm not trying to invade your fuckin' privacy. You're acting fuckin' shady. I need to know what you're doing." Muse: at 9:21 PM "And I said I don't want you around!" Roddy yelled back. He was spiraling. Losing it. Heart pounding, and words racing in the back of his mind. get out get out get out getoutgetoutgetout. Stuffed the papers in his pockets- he was gonna start flailing around any minute now, wouldn't do to drop them. "Just- get off my back already! I'm fine!" Izzy: at 9:27 PM Hansel flinched. He'd gotten the fucking message, already, that Roddy didn't want to be around him. He'd been ignoring it, was all, because it fucking hurt, and he didn't know how to fix it. Maybe he'd known this was what would happen, on some level. That was why he'd been telling himself to just give the kid some space. But that clearly wasn't fucking working. "Roddy -- what did I do fucking do?" he asked, crossing his arm. "Are you so fucking mad about me being with Goro that you can't even fuckin' be around me?" He'd thought they were getting along, now, but -- shit, he didn't know what else it could be. Muse: at 9:49 PM "Yes! Does that work? Is that a good enough answer for you?" Somewhere in the back of his mind, Roddy was aware he was going to be so sorry for this later. It was getting drowned out by loud waves of panic. Couldn't wait any longer. Roddy pushed forwards, intent on shoving by Hansel. Izzy: at 9:55 PM Goddammit. God fucking dammit. Hansel slammed his hand against the door frame, penning Roddy in. "No, it ain't a good enough fuckin' answer for me," he snapped. "What the fuck, kid? What'd Goro fuckin' do to you -- 'cause last thing I remember, you said he saved you in that cave, and he fucking came right to you when Asenka attacked you. I thought you two were fuckin' getting along. What did I fucking do?" Muse: at 10:01 PM Roddy pulled up short. Couldn't get by. Hansel was yelling now- Roddy felt himself flinching. He just needed a minute. Needed a minute, burn the papers, make it safe- the spell. Roddy hummed a little trying to summon his magic. "Why don't you let me by?" he said, trying to coat his words with the compulsion magic. Didn't bother to see if it'd worked before pushing at Hansel's arm, trying to get out. Izzy: at 10:08 PM Hansel felt the magic try to take hold of him and slip off without much resistance. God, he thought -- the last fucking time Roddy had tried to do that to him, it'd been in fucking defense of Goro, when Hansel's had him shoved up against the railing of the ship, threatening to toss him overboard. He thought it a bit distantly, though, as the kid tried to push past him. His body reacted before his head did, grabbing the edge of Roddy's shell and shoving him hard back into the room. He fucking wanted to be hurt. But he'd never explained his thing about compulsion magic to the kid, so he knew he didn't have any right to be. And he didn't want to be as goddamn angry as he was -- he knew the kid was upset, and he didn't fuckin' get why, but he wanted to be calm and reasonable and talk the kid into sitting down and having a conversation with him about it. Felt like they were beyond that point now, and he didn't know how to reign it back in. All he managed to say, through clenched teeth, was, "Don't. Fucking. Do that." Muse: at 10:15 PM Roddy yelped as he felt himself dragged back into the room. Hadn't worked. He didn't know what else to do. Yelling, magic, pushing- none of it worked. Now he was stuck here and Hansel was furious and Roddy- Roddy didn't know what he was. Scared, angry, sad- some mix of all of them stuck in a jar and swirled around till they were indistinguishable. And then set on to boil. "Well let me go then!" he yelled back. Fumbled around in his pockets for the papers and the matches. Crumpled them into a ball together and threw it at Hansel's chest. "There! That's what's got me so upset! Have it! I don't- it's not worth it any more, just let me leave!" Izzy: at 10:18 PM The anger was cut a bit by confusion. Fuckin' ... papers? That was what Roddy was upset about? He'd seen the kid hide them at the same time as the matches and just assumed it was kindling. He let the wad of paper bounce off him, glancing at them on the floor for a second, then held out his hand. "Give me the fucking matches, Roddy." Muse: at 10:19 PM Wouldn't freaking need the matches without the papers. Roddy pulled those out of his pocket too. Didn't feel safe to approach- tossed them too. "You know I have a wand that has fire spells in it too right?" he said sullenly. Izzy: at 10:25 PM Hansel caught the matches. Every little bit he'd managed to relax his jaw came back on him. Then fucking give that here, too, he started to say -- and then wondered why the hell Roddy needed matches in the first place if he had the wand -- was trying to be careful, maybe, not just spray fire all over the place with a spell -- dammit, that was smart, then, he wasn't just fuckin' setting shit on fire to stare at it all wide-eyed -- He had overreacted to this situation. Misread it, maybe. Probably. He squeezed the matchbox in his hand, trying to figure out what the fuck he was supposed to do now. He stepped away from the door and lowered his voice, but couldn't keep the frustration in check. "You wanna fuckin' talk to me about this like a goddamn adult, or you just gonna keep telling me to fuck off?" Muse: at 10:30 PM Roddy just stared for a second. With the papers out of his hands, felt like all the fight had gone out of him. Worst had happened, now just to wait for the fallout. Roddy'd rather not be here for that. He brushed by without a word, not sure where he was headed. Whatever happened- would be a later thing. Right now Roddy was just gonna find a corner and sit in it. Izzy: at 10:39 PM Hansel turned to watch the kid go. Let out a slow breath through his teeth, once he'd disappeared. Finally dropped down to scoop the papers up -- a couple of pages wrinkled together, torn out of a notebook, looked like. Roddy kept that journal, he knew -- what was he tearing shit out of it for? Definitely a fucking invasion of privacy to read them. He hesitated. But the kid had fucking thrown them at him, and he'd said this was why he was upset, and Hansel wasn't getting any other fuckin' story out of him, so ... He uncrumpled them and glanced over the words. Skimmed, because that felt less invasive -- then read them both again, in more depth. Then a third time. Then he folded them together carefully, and glanced in the direction Roddy had gone, and turned back to silently start cleaning up the kitchen, to give his hands something to do while he tried to figure out what the fuck he was supposed to do about this. END Title: Matches. Summary: Hansel runs into Roddy planning a mild arson, which freaks him out, and they get into an argument. Roddy tries to magically compel Hansel; Hansel gets pissed off and shoves him; Roddy throws a couple of journal pages at Hansel and flees. Dad Concern.(edited) January 14, 2019 Category:Text Roleplay